Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on Monday told reporters Democrats will likely miss the Halloween deadline for passing the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package.
“There is an awful lot going on. I don’t know how that would happen,” Manchin said in relation to the reconciliation package. Manchin also suggested Democrats should have a “meeting of the minds.”
Manchin did meet with socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Monday to find common ground on the expensive welfare package that would likely produce the largest increase in the size of government since the 1960s.
“There’s 52 senators who don’t agree, OK, and there’s two that want to work something out if possible in the most rational, reasonable way,” Manchin told reporters after the meeting. The two senators then posed for a photo together to seemingly show party unity.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) told the Hill the delay is making him “anxious” the package will fail because 52 senators oppose the measure despite the White House’s pressure on congressional members to pass the bill.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) makes his opening statement, during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 27, 2021. (Tasos Katopodis/AFP via Getty Images)
“Time is of the essence. The longer we wait the less likely that we’re going to produce a product that the American people are anxious to receive. … We’ve got to have some mutual trust to bring this to a close,” Durbin said.
I’m “anxious, not frustrated,” he added. “We’ve seen this coming for weeks, but now I appeal to Joe and Sinema, Joe and Kyrsten, close the deal. Let’s get this done,” he said.
“You can make it square or make it a circle,” Durbin doubled down with anxiety, “but get it done. I don’t care.”
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) shares a moment with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) during a news conference after a procedural vote for the bipartisan infrastructure framework at Dirksen Senate Office Building, July 28, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has avoided speaking about the possibility of failing to meet the self-imposed deadline of Halloween and downplayed expectations due to Democrat infighting.
“It’s a difficult task, but we’re committed to getting it done. … We still have work to do. We all know in order to pass meaningful legislation, we put aside our differences and find common ground within our party,” Schumer said Monday.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) criticizes Republicans as he speaks to reporters after a weekly policy meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, DC, September 21, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The White House is also worried the package will not pass Congress due to infighting. On Thursday, the White House reportedly leaked a memo threatening to abandon negotiations unless the sides quickly come together.
“It’s not like the White House has enormous leverage here,” Punchbowl explained about the Biden-Harris administration’s lack of leverage. “The White House saying they’re done doesn’t mean a whole lot.”
President Joe Biden’s “human infrastructure” contains expensive welfare items, including free college tuition, health care, child care, paid leave, subsidized housing, global warming initiatives, and expansion of Medicare to offer dental, vision, and hearing benefits.
President Joe Biden delivers an update on the coronavirus response and vaccination program, in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, October 14, 2021, in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø
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